1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a hydrogen-added water and a device for the same, more specifically, relates to the method for continuously manufacturing the hydrogen-added water containing a large amount of microscopic bubbles of the hydrogen gas and the device for the same.
2. Related Art
Various oxidation-reduction systems are present inside of the body of mammals including humans (hereinafter, referred to as “living organisms”), many of which are related to one another and use the oxidation-reduction reaction. The electric potential in the oxidation-reduction systems inside the living organisms is directly related to the free energy changes of the reactions and equilibrium constants, which help to predict the direction of the reactions.
The oxidation-reduction reactions of mammal organs or the reaction inside living organisms have low electric potentials, normally in the range of −100 mV to −400 mV, with a pH in the range of 3 to 7. It is understood that, as the oxidation-reduction potential in bodily fluids increases, active oxygen is easily retained, which causes organ failures. Especially in the intestines, enteric microbes are very active in digesting and absorbing nutrient components, anaerobically reducing ambient oxygen needs to be maintained.
For example, the oxidation-reduction potential of “acetic acid+CO2+2H+/α-ketoglutarate reaction” within the living organism is −673 mV and the oxidation-reduction potential of “acetic acid+CO2/pyruvic acid reaction” is −699 mV. The oxidation-reduction potential of “acetic acid+2H+/acetaldehyde reaction” is −581 mV and the oxidation-reduction potential of ferredoxin is −413 mV. The oxidation-reduction potential of “xanthine+H+/hypoxanthine+H2O” is −371 mV, the oxidation-reduction potential of “uric acid+H+/xanthine+H2O” is −360 mV. The oxidation-reduction potential of acetoacetic acid+2H+/β-hydroxybutyric acid reaction” is −346 mV and the oxidation-reduction potential of “cystine+2H+/2 cysteine reaction” is −340 mV.
Thus, in the reactions of enzymes, coenzyme and metabolically-related substances within the living organism, the oxidation-reduction potential is low. Also, a water or food product having low oxidation-reduction potential has separating and eliminating effects on the active oxygen in the body and on molecules or atoms containing one or more unpaired electrons—i.e. free radicals—thereby enhancing the reaction of the active oxygen excisionase called SOD (superoxide dismutase).
Bodily fluids provide grounds for metabolic reactions inside the body, including oxidation-reduction reactions. Bodily fluids account for substantially 60% of living organisms, to which electrolytes, proteins, and especially water, or the like, are significant components. Water is especially important because reaction in a low oxidation-reduction potential is effective for living organisms.
Meanwhile, the oxidation-reduction potential of a tap water is +400 to +800 mV, with a pH in the range of 6.5 to 8. Consequently, it is believed that tap water does not keep balance with living organisms with an oxidation-reduction potential is in the range of −100 mV to −400 mV.
Current means exist for lowering the oxidation-reduction potential of water (for example, tap water) to less than zero by imposing electrolysis and a high frequency current on the water. However, in all methods thereof, the balance between the oxidation-reduction potential value and the pH is not ideal in terms of the oxidation-reduction reaction within living organisms.
Many other biological reactions accompany the oxidation-reduction reactions and play a pivotal role in metabolic reactions and the like. Also, outside living organisms, in a system (solution) containing an oxidant and a reductant, if an inactive electrode that is uninvolved in the oxidation-reduction reactions itself, such as platinum, is soaked in the solution, a potential difference appears between electrodes. The potential difference is the oxidation-reduction potential (Oxidation-Reduction Potential=ORP), the unit of which is referred to as mV. Herein, if an activity of the oxidant of a substance is [Ox] and that of the reductant thereof is [Red], the state that both are mixed is represented by the formula (1).Formula 1: [Ox]+n(e)→[Red]  (1);
wherein e is an electron, and n is an electron number that is moving.
The oxidation-reduction potential (mV) of the electrode reaction formula represented by the formula (1) is expressed by means of the Nernst's formula (2).Formula 2: E=E0+(RT/nF)ln [Ox]/[Red]  (2);
wherein R is a gas constant (8.31 Jmol−1K−1), T is an absolute temperature (K), and F is a Faraday constant (96406 JV−1). E0 is a standard oxidation-reduction potential when [Ox] is equal to [Red].
In the formula (2), ln [Ox]/[Red] is a natural logarithm. Accordingly, as the denominator “[Red]” is becomes much larger than the numerator “[Ox]”, the negative value of the oxidation-reduction potential, E, is increased. In other words, theoretically, as the activity of the reductant [Red] is larger than that of the oxidant [Ox], the oxidation-reduction potential can be negatively charged.
More specifically, in the method of negatively changing the oxidation-reduction potential of raw water by blowing hydrogen into raw water in a mixed state of oxidant and reductant, it is important that the activity of the reductant [Red] be larger than that of the oxidant. In this case, efficiency is increased by blowing hydrogen into raw water, which is in the mixed state of oxidant and reductant, the contacting the water with a reduction catalyst like metal supported with the quartz porphyry.
The inventors have hitherto developed hydrogen solution manufacturing equipments based on the above-mentioned theoretical background (see JP 2005-177724). In particular, JP 2005-177724 discloses a hydrogen-added water manufacturing equipment, comprising a reaction tank, a raw water-supplying pipe watertightly connected to the reaction tank, a depressurizing pipe watertightly connected to the reaction tank, a hydrogen-supplying pipe watertightly connected to the reaction tank, and a water-extracting pipe watertightly connected to the reaction tank.
Recently, studies on microscopic bubbles and developments in application thereof have been well-practiced. Microscopic bubbles are defined as fine bubbles having diameters in the range of 10 to a few dozen μm. In general, the bubbles generated or formed in water are a few millimeters in diameter, but microscopic bubbles are characterized as having a hundredth thereof in diameter. In such formations, the microscopic bubbles have the high absorption efficiencies into bodily fluids, and are superior in homogeneity and dispersibility. Microscopic bubbles also increase biological activities of living organisms. Applications to diagnosis and treatment of cancer take advantage of the characteristic that the microscopic bubbles can produce heat up to about 70 degrees when they are exposed to ultrasound waves.